Top lawmaker says Omar should face prison and deportation

Omar has denied wrongdoing and described the investigation as political persecution.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., should face prison and deportation if a federal investigation determines that she or her father lied on immigration paperwork to obtain her U.S. citizenship, Fox News Digital reported Friday.

Omar is under federal investigation over allegations that she or her father falsely stated her birth year on immigration documents after her family fled Somalia in the late 1990s.

Omar has denied wrongdoing and described the investigation as political persecution.

Emmer, the No. 3 Republican in the House of Representatives and the highest-ranking House lawmaker from Omar’s home state, said allegations surrounding her immigration history had circulated for years.

“I would say first she should probably serve time in the gray bar motel and then get the hell out of here. She should go back to where she came from” if the allegations are proven to be true, Emmer said. “If it’s determined that she lied to gain citizenship, then absolutely, she should go back to the front of the line.”

The allegations center on Omar’s age when her father became a U.S. citizen in 2000.

She was believed to have been 17, which meant she qualified automatically for citizenship as a minor under U.S. law.

Recent allegations contend that she was actually 18 and therefore would have been required to complete the citizenship process herself.

Federal agents raided Omar’s Washington, D.C., home earlier this week, seizing her cellphone and other possessions. Homeland Security Investigations agents carried out the search early Monday morning.

Omar rejected the allegations and accused the Trump administration of targeting her.

“I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation,” Omar wrote on X after the raid. “I will not be silenced.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and other Democratic leaders have also criticized the investigation, which comes less than three weeks before Election Day on Nov. 3.

Emmer rejected accusations that the investigation was politically motivated, pointing to the judicially authorized search warrant.

“That judge had to determine that there was probable cause that a federal crime has been committed,” Emmer said. “So the fact that they issued the warrant in the first place and then executed it, I mean maybe after all these years, someone is finally going to hold Ilhan Omar accountable.”